On three occasions, I have been allowed the honor to address members of SWAT. Now that the "SWAT Tombstone" is on the scene, I've been permitted to afflict the rest of SWAT (and possibly more of PSA) with my interest. ;-) If Colorado keeps it up; I'll go up and abuse them too! And even worse, the infection is growing - Carolyn Hennings is going to talk in Chicago sometime! Go Carolyn!
I am also looking for people outside of SWAT to possibly talk about the Seven Habits in other regions. If you are interested in joining Carolyn and I, please drop us a note. ( cmh@pencom.com, mascio@pencom.com)
Briefly, "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" (7HoHEP) are a framework to help plan your life. The Seven Habits, in conjunction with other concepts help provide a holistic way of looking at your life, values, roles, goals and relationships.
The Seven Habits are:
These habits provide us a process to move ourselves along the Maturity Continuum, starting with Dependence, moving to Independence, and finally, Interdependence.
In my preparation of the presentations, I spent some time talking to other PSA members, as well as thinking about my observations of Pencom. I came to the pleasant realization that Pencom was attempting to embody the principles of the Seven Habits! Even better, after talking to Ed Taylor, he had not read the book. In all of the work he (and others) have done to grow Pencom in to a thriving business, there was never a specific attempt to follow a give framework, like the Seven Habits, but yet here is a company who lives and breathes good solid principles!
Let's take a short look at this. Starting with Habit 1, we have proactivity. Proactive is the state of mind that says, "I am responsible for my situation, or my response to it." Let's look at PSA: We have a company of Systems Administrators who not only find problems within the company but also take action to fix it! Consider Direct Deposit. Members of PSA saw the lack of it to be a problem, and worked with Accounting to make it happen!
Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind. Were do you want to go? Not just today, but in the long haul.
Habit 3: First Things First. These are planning and execution. We want to expand, grow, and generally have fun. We have been doing this in a number of ways: The CI, Austin's Warcraft night, our TFFs, ... This company is full of examples.
Habit 4: Think Win/Win. I will not win at your expense. BUT ... I will also not lose to satisfy you. I will not be hard-nosed, nor will I be a martyr! Consider our relationships with our clients.
Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, THEN to be Understood. This order is not accidental. By taking the proactive stance of listening first, we allow the other party to express themselves, without them feeling they are competing with us for expression. Once they feel they are understood, then we have all the time in the world to express ourselves. They are ready to truly listen, as we truly listened to them. Now we have a real foundation for problem solving.
Habit 6: Synergy. The whole is greater then the sum of the parts, or 1+1 is greater then 2. We utilize habits 4 and 5 to find a better answer to our situation, thus allowing both of us to get all we wanted and then some! Example: The CI!
And finally, Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw. The habit of renewal and balance. Here is where we keep ourselves "sharp". No just technically, but mentally, physically and spiritually. We have Austin's Warcraft night - well, maybe not physically here! Lack of sleep can be tough, but definitely spiritually and mentally (after some sleep!). We also have our TFFs, t he Tombstone, NEO, Hiring Events, and various other PSA get togethers! (Hey Ed! I understand you play darts. I found mine!)
So, as you can see, PSA (and Pencom) do try to follow these principles, even if there was not conscience effort to follow the Seven Habits. But the Seven Habits are not new. Even Covey admits this. The principles are old and timeless. If we seek to follow them, they will work for us in our lives. I hope to explore this further with all of you, if there is interest among the SWAT community.